The Skeleton Crew, Or, Wildfire Ned — Anonymous

First serialised between 1866 and 1867 by the Newsagents' Publishing Company and Edwin J. Brett, 'The Skeleton Crew, or, Wildfire Ned' was among the finest and most popular of the fierce 'penny dreadful' tales which flourished in the mid nineteenth century. Edward Warbeck, the eponymous Ned, pursues a quest to defeat murderous bandits known as the Skeleton Crew, led by the indefatigable Death-wing. Occultist A. E. Waite described this bloodthirsty tale as "suggestive of a film produced by the inmates of Bedlam" with a storyline "in a state of nightmare". The original vivid, and often terrifying, images of the skeleton outlaws are reproduced in this edition.